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Kashuby Summer

Published
by
MP
on August 25, 2008
in Andrew and MP
. 2 Comments

In 1859 a small group of families arrived in the beautiful Madawaska Valley. Hailing from a region of Poland known as ‘Kaszuby’, they found this small pocket of Canadian wildnerness as their home. At the north end of Lake Kamaniskeg, at the town of Barry’s Bay, they lay claim to the land and rooted their culture in the rocky earth. The surrounding area was primarily Irish in its settlement, and to this day both cultures are prominent between the townships of Wilno and Barry’s Bay. Years later, as fate would have it, two cottagers of the area would meet. A Polish lad named Andrzej would win the heart of a young Irish lass named Mary Patricia, and the duo would enjoy the cool waters of the Madawaska Valley together, united in the cultural and historical diversity of the land. The young Irish lass would then paint a bench in traditional Kashub tradition to try and win over the family of the Polish lad. It was a lovely bench of love.

cottaging on

Published
by
MP
on August 10, 2008
in Andrew, MP and Tyler
. 1 Comment

People in transition are all around. Back to School Sale signs have started to pop up in store windows. The cold wind of seasonal change is about to begin blowing an ominous breeze of scheduled existence and early sunsets. And I’m sure the odd leaf will soon fall to the ground, brining the end of summer with it. People will leave, people will return, and I will remain with my bad haircut. The perpetual Sunday that is August is here, and still I feel as though my summer hasn’t really started. Odd.

At any rate, the end has begun and Andrew’s apartment over on Windermere is now empty of us. Last week we packed up all of his earthly possessions and somehow managed to fit most of them into the little blue car. With our seats pushed up as forward as they could go, we set out on a very long and very cramped journey to Barry’s Bay. After 20 minutes of unloading what took as nearly 12 hours to pack, we dropped in at the Trout Lake cottage to see my family and some summer friends of yore. After a couple beers, a couple burgers, and a game of ‘Last Man Standing’ on the raft with the Nagy kids, we returned to the cottage on Lake Wadsworth, and swiftly set out on an Eastern Ontario adventure to Tyler’s cottage down on Big Rideau Lake.

A small congregation of Andrew’s housemates from Queen’s came together at Tyler’s island abode. Beer, boats, and belly-aches were made our pleasures at the gracious hands of our hosts. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a finer cottage. Love and comfort oozed from every wonderfully uneven floorboard… even in the outhouse. You could just feel the years of childhood joy that several generations of Tyler’s family have experienced there. After a kayaking excursion, a barefoot trail hike, some sailing, and a whole lotta risk, we had to leave the lovely oasis and head home like the rest of the long-weekend adventurers. A car full of Queen’s alumni traversed the 401, when we realized that during the 4 years each of us had going back and forth in between Kingston and Toronto, none of us had ever stopped in at the Big Apple. As we saw that red orb grow in front of us on the horizon we figured ‘why not?’ We stopped, we ate pie, and we climbed the steps inside the Big Apple that let us look out upon the bad traffic we would soon face. It was all actually incredibly anticlimactic. In the end, we made it back to Toronto with overly full stomachs.

In Toronto I remain, with a new bad haircut and trying to lose the 6 pounds I gained over the long weekend. Humbug. Now Andrew and I are trying to find ways to escape the city again… which is made more difficult with work pending and schedules undefined. Feels like Fall already.

refurbished words

Published
by
MP
on July 29, 2008
in Andrew and MP
. 0 Comments

I love you because you are beautiful and smart and in control of your life and finances your business acumen astonishes me and makes me want to arrange your flowers.

www.rogannyc.com

Whole Foods Galactica

Published
by
MP
on July 16, 2008
in Battlestar Galactica and MP
. 0 Comments

Aaron DouglasAfter a particularly frustrating morning of editing, I left the Rockhead office and strolled around Yorkville trying to get back into the narrative zone. The lunching hour was upon me, and I had a hankering for some overpriced Whole Foods fruit. After purchasing a shiny apple I went to exit the store. I was going up the escalator and saw in front of me a face that I recognized. I couldn’t, for the life of me, pinpoint how or from where I knew this dude before me. Then it hit me with a bolt of awesomeness: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. In front of me at the Toronto Whole Foods stood The Chief, Galen Tyrol – also known as Aaron Douglas. I reacted instantly, “You’re in Battlestar!” He replied, “Why, yes I am.” “You’re the Chief and you’re awesome,” I blurted out. Smooth, MP. “Thanks,” he calmly responded, no doubt thinking about the organic fare we has soon to procure. With one last ounce of annoying harassment I demanded, “Who is the fifth cylon?!?!?!!” With an air of loftiness he answered, “Oh, I can’t tell you that.” “You’re such a cylon,” I told him. He chuckled a bit, and then we both went our separate ways. And with that small junction of nerdiness, my day was instantly enlivened, and I went back to work with a big fat sci-fi smile on my face. Thank you, Chief… even though you are a cylon and can hear ‘All Along the Watchtower’ in the walls of your mighty ship. NERD ALERT.

fashionable people doing questionable things

Published
by
MP
on July 8, 2008
in Andrew and MP
. 0 Comments

Dredger had a brilliant Thursday idea. The idea involved vacating Toronto in favour of trees, towels, and twang. We packed up our hats and headed to Orillia for the Mariposa Folk Festival on the shores of Lake Couchiching. We went for Joel Plaskett, and hung around for Peter Elkas, Hayden, Cuff the Duke, and some other folkies. It was definitely one of those days that ends with such satisfying and mellow happiness that only the tenacious strum of acoustic guitars can generate. The drawl of the steel strings peeking through a cover of Dylan’s “Ride Me High” had me hooked. Oh lord, we’re gonna fly down in the easy chair. Twang really is a fine spice that I have a ferocious appetite for. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of Country music… with their ‘gas tanks full of dreams’ and ‘man, I feel like a woman’ bullshit. But I do like my twang. I like it a lot. I like it particularly when it accompanies the likes of hipsters like Joel Plaskett. Frankly, the hipsters have embraced the twang and I am right on that bandwagon with them, bumbling along this crazy indie rock hayride. Anyway, Andrew and I lay in grass and listened to acoustic guitars in the sun. After a sufficient amount of sun exposure we opted for the beer tent. During a set with Peter Elkas and Joel Plaskett I yelled out “I Love Clayton Park!” Afterwards, some guy approached Andrew and I and asked “Are you from Halifax?” Our answer: “No. We’re just hip.” Ha cha. And then it was back to Toronto, and back to humidity until another weekend delivers us to the forest.

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